Polestar Now Uses Recycled Cobalt and Provides Battery Refurbishment Services for the Polestar 2 And 3

• Both cars’ batteries now include over 50% recycled cobalt content.

• Once batteries reach the end of their life, Volvo battery centers can refurbish them.

• This is aimed at making Polestar electric vehicles more sustainable over their entire use cycle.

In an effort to reduce its cars’ environmental footprint, Polestar has introduced recycled materials into its new battery packs, in addition to teaming up with parent company Volvo to refurbish older batteries.

In fact, the Polestar 2 sedan and Polestar 3 SUV now feature at least 50% recycled cobalt content, which helps reduce the manufacturer’s dependency on newly-mined minerals.

In addition, the company is also working together with its parent company Volvo, which operates battery recycling centers where Polestar 2 and 3 drivers will be able to have their cars serviced.

At these facilities, technicians will swap the car’s battery packs for refurbished items that will extend the vehicle’s service life. Of course, the batteries that are removed in this process will be refurbished themselves and then reinstalled in other vehicles.

As the automaker points out, this is beneficial both for the environment and for the customer by increasing individual cars’ lifespans with minimal environmental impacts, since most materials employed in the restoration process will also be recycled.

Polestar is currently working on deals to extend this recycling and refurbishing program to all of its markets globally.

The China-backed Swedish automaker has always boasted about the sustainability of its processes and its vehicles, which already included a number of recycled materials, notably interior furnishings and upholstery.

While most automakers like to make similar claims, it seems Polestar’s efforts are paying off, since the company has reportedly managed to lower its CO₂ emissions per vehicle by 25% since 2020.

Interestingly, nowhere is the new Polestar 4 mentioned in relation to the battery refurbishment program or the recycled cobalt content.

This suggests that the brand’s latest product is not subject to the same sustainability standards, perhaps because it is manufactured in South Korea instead of China, where the automaker’s battery reclaiming infrastructure might not be as well developed.